Sunday, December 27, 2009

The good folks at the ClawBies have asked that we narrow our nominees down to three, but, this year, I will resist that temptation (which would require that I overlook too many), and simply name my personal picks for Canada's best law blogs in the categories below.

Hopefully, the ClawBie crew will be able to sort through these selections, too:

Policy and Influence Award - Jason Cherniak for Liblogs - not a law blog, per se (although it features many law blogs, including Wise Law Blog*), the Liblogs aggregator is a significant achievement by a Canadian lawyer in social media that is highly worthy of mention.

2009 was the year the legal profession began to truly "get" what social media is all about. An interesting (and largely unanticipated) spin-off of this trend has been the increasing prominence of law bloggers as presenters in accredited CLE programs. In this sense, blawging truly came of age in the last twelve months.

With this in mind, my quick tip for my fellow advocates in 2010: do not underestimate social media as a legitimate springboard for professional opportunity, broadened horizons - and much resulting personal satisfaction.

The Ontario Human Rights Tribunal has ordered National Money Mart Company to pay $30,000 in compensation to a former, one-year employee of the company who had been subjected to ongoing, serious sexual harassment by her workplace supervisor.

With the Ontario Court of Appeal's June 25, 2009 ruling in Slepenkova v. Ivanov, it is now clear that the nearly-universal pronouncements by management lawyers as to the death of Wallace damages after Honda and Keays may have been a bit premature.

In Slepenkova, the Ontario appellate court upheld a two-month notice extension for an employer's bad faith termination, even though no evidence was led at trial as to the specific damages the employee directly incurred as a result of the bad faith. This appeared to place the trial Judge's decision at odds with the new Wallace test set out in Honda.

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Wise Law Blogfeatures timely articles on legal developments in Canada and the United States, along with commentary on Canadian politics, American politics, technology and noteworthy current affairs.

Launched on April 5, 2005, Wise Law Blog also highlights key decisions of Canadian courts, with focus on Ontario Family Law, Ontario Employment Law and other areas of interest.

Garry J. Wise is primary contributor to Wise Law Blog. He is a Canadian litigation lawyer who practices with Wise Law Office,Toronto. He is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and was called to the Ontario Bar in 1986.

Garry's colleagues at Wise Law Office, as well as occasional guest bloggers, also contribute to Wise Law Blog.

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